6.  The applicants were born in 1957 and in 1975 respectively. They are residents of Argun, Chechnya. At present they live in Ingushetia.
7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.
8.  The first applicant's son, Shamil Said-Khasanovich Akhmadov, who was born on 17 December 1975, married the second applicant in 1992. They have five children – Layusa, who was born in 1993, Anzhela, born in 1995, Khedi, born in 1997, Magomed, born in 1998 and Fattakh, born in 2000. They lived in the town of Argun, about 10 kilometres east of Grozny, where Shamil Akhmadov worked as a butcher in the market. The first and the second applicants are housewives.
9.  On 10 March 2001 illegal paramilitaries stormed and briefly occupied the local television station in Argun. Several press agencies also reported that on the same day a Russian military checkpoint in Argun had come under attack and sustained casualties.
10.  Between 11 and 14 March 2001 the military carried out a “mopping-up” operation (zachistka) in the town, apparently in response to the attacks of the previous day. On 13 March 2001 the Interfax news agency reported that the military commander's office had said that the operation had been aimed at tracking down rebels and criminals, and finding weapons and ammunition. The movement of transport and people was restricted and the roads from Argun to Shali and Grozny closed. The commander's office reported that the operation had produced “tangible results”, including the detention of “individuals who, according to intelligence, may have been involved in the terrorist acts and murders committed [in Argun]”. The number of detainees was not reported.
11.  Between 12 and 2 p.m. on 12 March 2001 Shamil Akhmadov left his home at 12 Novaya Street in Argun. Several military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and police UAZ cars, took up positions in the nearby Gudermesskaya Street. The servicemen detained Shamil Akhmadov. The second applicant, who was informed of the events by a neighbour, rushed out to see what was going on. She saw her husband surrounded by a group of servicemen, who put him into an APC. She submitted the following account of the events:
“On 12 March 2001 ... I went to the dentist's. For the previous two months my husband had remained at home, because he was afraid to travel to Grozny. At first he wanted to accompany me but then decided to stay at home. I went with a female relative, but as soon as I sat in the chair, the dentist's wife rushed into the office and told me that she had seen my husband Shamil being detained in the street. I immediately ran over but was too late to save him.
He was at the intersection of the road to Gudermes and the road to the suburbs. I guess he had decided to follow me because the intersection was less than 500 metres from the dental clinic. It's not far from our house, maybe 300-400 metres. That day Shamil was wearing a white T-shirt, black sweatshirt, navy jacket and birch-coloured trousers.
From where I was standing I could see three APCs, one Ural truck and one or two UAZ vehicles. There was a group of armed people, but I do not know exactly how many. They were wearing milk-grey uniforms, some were young and others middle-aged.
I saw them talking to my husband, but could not make out what they told him. I do not know if he showed them his passport, but I know for sure that he had his passport with him. By the time I had run over, they had already thrown Shamil, like a roll of cloth, into the APC, and when I reached them, they closed the APC door and drove away in the direction of Gudermes. I did not see any other civilians in the street, everyone else would have hidden away.”
12.  The second applicant said that she then rushed home and, together with the first applicant, went to the military commander's office, where they talked to the commander, Nikolay Ivanovich Sidorenko. He told them that Shamil Akhmadov had not been brought to the commander's office. For the next three days both applicants, along with other relatives of the detained persons, remained in front of the office awaiting news of the detainees.
13.  According to a report issued by NGO Memorial in March 2001, 170 people were detained in houses and on the streets of Argun as a result of the mopping-up operation. The relatives of the detainees gathered at the local commander's office. In response to these events, the Chechnya Republican Prosecutor Mr Chernov and the Deputy Mayor of Grozny arrived in Argun on 17 March 2001. Within several days most of those detained were released without charge. However, 11 detained men were not released: Shamil Akhmadov, Muslim Batayev, Said-Magomed Dikiyev, Ali Eldiyev, Ayub Gairbekov, Ismail Khutiyev, Ali Labazanov, Ruslan Mezhidov, Abdul-Malik Tovzarkhanov, Ruslan Viskhadzhiyev and Abdul-Vakhab Yashurkayev.
14.  The Government did not dispute the circumstances of Shamil Akhamdov's detention as presented by the applicants. They submitted that in 2001 Shamil Akhmadov had been charged with a crime under Article 228 part 1 of the Criminal Code (possession of illegal drugs without the intention to sell) in the Krasnodar Region, but was a fugitive from justice and had breached the obligation not to leave a particular location. On 13 February 2001 the Sovetskiy District Court of Krasnodar had put Shamil Akhmadov on the list of wanted persons. The Government further submitted that Shamil Akhmadov was unemployed and had problems with drugs and alcohol.
15.  Immediately after the detention of Shamil Akhmadov the applicants began a search for him with the relatives of the other ten men who had “disappeared”. The search was primarily carried out by the first applicant, while the second applicant remained at home to take care of the children. On numerous occasions, both in person and in writing, they made appeals to the prosecutors of various levels, the Ministry of Interior, the administrative authorities in Chechnya and the Special Representative of the Russian President in the Chechen Republic for rights and freedoms, media and public figures.
16.  In their letters to the authorities the applicants stated the circumstances in which Shamil Akhmadov had been detained and asked for assistance and details of the investigation. The first applicant kept a folder of her letters to and responses from the authorities; she also listed these in a diary. However, she submitted that in February or March 2002 her house was raided by soldiers who took away the folder and the diary. As a result, she was able to provide copies of very few letters.
17.  The first applicant also personally visited detention centres and prisons in Chechnya as well as further afield in the Northern Caucasus. She also went to places where unidentified bodies were discovered, and over a period of 14 months saw dozens of corpses across Chechnya.
18.  The applicants received hardly any substantive information from the authorities about the investigation into Shamil Akhmadov's disappearance. On several occasions they were sent copies of letters forwarding their requests to the various prosecutors' services.
19.  On an unspecified date soon after 11 March 2001 the first applicant was questioned by an investigator at the military commander's office. She went there with the mother of another “disappeared” person. The first applicant submitted that she had neither been summoned nor formally requested to see the investigator, but persuaded the guards to let her into the compound. The investigator asked a lot of questions about the circumstances of the detention and personal details relating to Shamil Akhmadov such as what he had been wearing on the day he was detained and what size shoes he wore. The first applicant signed the record of the questioning at the end of the interview.
20.  Shortly after the “mopping-up” operation in Argun, four bodies were discovered on the edge of the Russian main military base in Khankala. These men were later identified as four of the 11 missing persons who had been detained in Argun on 12 March 2001.
21.  In a report of March 2001 NGO Memorial, citing as its source a staff member of the military prosecutor's office in Khankala, stated:
“On 13 March 2001, near the Russian military base in Khankala, a military patrol discovered a fresh grave, which they initially mistook for a landmine, in an irrigation canal. Instead of a landmine, however, the arriving sappers found human remains. With the assistance of sappers and in the presence of a military prosecutor, four bodies were exhumed with bullet wounds to their backs and the back of their heads. The bodies were cleaned and brought to [the base].
Because the bodies bore signs of violent death, the military prosecutor opened criminal investigation no. 14/33/0132-01. Between March 14 and 16, autopsies were conducted by forensic experts in Rostov and after that, on 19 March 2001, the bodies were transferred for burial to the Ministry of Emergency Situations [Emercom] of Chechnya.”
22.  Several days later relatives identified these four persons as those detained on 12 March 2001 in Argun – Muslim Batsiyev, Ayub Gairbekov, Ismail Khutiyev and Abdul-Malik Tovzarkhanov.
23.  Referring to documents in the criminal investigation file, the Government submitted in December 2005 that on 13 March 2001 on territory guarded by military unit no. 98311 the bodies of Batsiyev, Gairbekov, Khutiyev and Tovzarkhanov were found with indications that they had met a violent death. On the same day the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 opened criminal investigation no. 14/33/0132-01 under Article 105 part 2 (a) of the Criminal Code for aggravated murder.
24.  On 20 March 2001 the Chechnya Republican Prosecutor's Office informed the first applicant that her complaint had been forwarded to the Argun Town Prosecutor's Office for investigation.
25.  According to the information submitted by the Government in November 2005, on 23 March 2001 the Argun District Prosecutor's Office opened criminal investigation file no. 45031 into the abduction of several persons from Argun. The first applicant was questioned and granted victim status in the proceedings on 17 April 2001. The Government cited the first applicant's statement in which she alleged that she had been told by a fellow detainee that her son had been detained on 15–16 March 2001 at the premises of the Argun VOVD.
26.  On 19 April 2001 the first applicant wrote to the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102 in Khankala. It replied on 24 April 2001 that her complaint had been forwarded to the Argun Town Prosecutor's Office.
27.  On 11 May 2001 criminal investigation file no. 45031 was transferred to the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102, where on 16 May 2001 it was joined with file no. 14/33/0132-01 that had been opened in relation to the discovery of the four bodies in Khankala.
28.  On 28 May 2001 an investigator from the Argun Town Prosecutor's Office informed the first applicant that a criminal investigation into her son's disappearance had been opened on 23 March 2001 under Article 126 part 2 of the Criminal Code for the kidnapping of two or more persons by a group. The letter further stated that “in the course of the investigation the involvement of military servicemen was established in the abduction of your son and others” and informed her of the transfer of the investigation to a military prosecutor.
29.  On 3 September 2001 the Office of the Special Envoy of the Russian President in the Chechen Republic for rights and freedoms informed the first applicant that her complaint had been forwarded to the Chechnya Prosecutor's Office.
30.  Eight or nine months after Mr Akhmadov's detention the first applicant was told by one of the guards at the military commander's office that he had seen her son at the compound several days after the “mopping-up” operation. According to the guard, whose name the first applicant does not know, her son had been detained there for about two weeks and had been badly beaten. He had then been taken to another location.
31.  On 30 November 2001 the Argun Department of the Interior issued a note to the second applicant, certifying that she was searching for the family breadwinner, Shamil Akhmadov, who had been missing since 12 March 2001. The note was addressed to humanitarian agencies and asked them to help the family with five small children.
32.  On 21 March 2002 an investigator at the Argun Town Prosecutor's Office informed the first applicant that according to “the available information [the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 has] suspended the criminal investigation owing to a failure to identify those responsible for the kidnapping of Akhmadov and others and to establish [his] whereabouts”.
33.  On an unspecified date the first applicant travelled to Khankala with relatives of the other missing persons where they submitted their complaints to a military prosecutor. She claims that sometime later she received a letter from a military prosecutor informing her that the investigation had been resumed and that the efforts to establish the whereabouts of Shamil Akhmadov were continuing.
34.  In early March 2002 local residents discovered three bodies on pasture land on the outskirts of Argun. The grave was excavated by the military in the presence of a prosecutor; apparently, it had been booby-trapped. One of the bodies had its head missing and was identified through surgical scars by his wife as being that of Abdul-Vakhid Yashurkayev. He too was one of the eleven missing detainees of 12 March 2001. In March 2002 Memorial reported the finding in their press-release “Argun. Disappearance of Detainees. The 'Disappeared' are Found in Unmarked Graves”.
35.  On 12 March 2002 the first applicant applied to the Shali District Court for a declaration that her son was missing, in order to obtain an allowance for the loss of the family breadwinner. In her application, she stated the circumstances in which her son had been detained and the failure of the investigative authorities to establish his whereabouts.
36.  In late April 2002 local residents discovered a body in a field outside Argun. Upon making the discovery they requested the military commandant's office to exhume it, fearing that it, too, might be booby-trapped. One week later, military sappers exhumed the remains and brought it to the cemetery.
37.  On 1 May 2002 the second applicant, who had been informed of the discovery by her neighbours, went to the cemetery. She was accompanied by her husband's grandmother. The second applicant immediately recognised the clothes her husband had been wearing on the day of his apprehension. The body, which had been buried, was exhumed and reburied in the family grave the same day. The second applicant said that it consisted of little more then bones. The right leg was broken, the upper half of the skull was missing and there were bullet holes in the clothes in the chest area. The second applicant collected the clothes and they are still in her possession.
38.  The first applicant did not see her son's body, as at that time she was out of Chechnya for medical reasons.
39.  After the discovery of Shamil Akhmadov's body, the applicants continued their attempts to obtain further investigations into the circumstances of his death.
40.  According to the Government, on 23 May 2002 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 resumed the investigation into Mr Akhmadov's abduction.
41.  On 8 June 2002 the Argun Prosecutor's Office issued a certificate to the second applicant to confirm that their office had opened criminal investigation no. 45031 into the abduction of her husband. It further confirmed that “on 1 May 2002 a skeletal corpse of an unknown man was discovered at the southern edge of Argun. Relatives identified him by the remaining items of clothing as Shamil Akhmadov, born on 17 December 1975 in Argun, who had been kidnapped by unidentified persons on 12 March 2001 in Argun. Examination of the body showed that Akhmadov's death had been caused by violence, judging by bullet holes in the skull and the upper part of the neck-bone and fractures of the ribs. Taking into account the absence of any soft tissue on the bones, death probably occurred in March 2001”.
42.  On 21 August 2002 the civil registration office of Argun issued a death certificate for Shamil Akhmadov, and indicated that the death had occurred on 22 March 2001 in Argun.
43.  On 5 May 2003 the SRJI, acting on the applicants' behalf, wrote to the Argun Prosecutor's Office, asking him for news about the investigation in criminal case no. 45031. They inquired if the investigation, which had been suspended in March 2002, had been reopened after the discovery of Mr Akhmadov's body. They also made requests for the second applicant and the person who had discovered the body to be questioned, for a forensic analysis to be ordered and for the clothes in which the body had been found to be collected from the second applicant for examination. They further inquired if any documents had been obtained relating to the operation in Argun on 11-14 March 2001, if the commanding officers and the servicemen who had conducted the passport checks had been identified and questioned, if the officers responsible for the supervision of the detainees had been questioned and if other detainees had been interviewed. Finally, they inquired what investigative measures had been carried out at the spot where Shamil Akhmadov's body had been found.
44.  On 14 June 2003 the Argun Town Prosecutor's Office replied that following the discovery of four bodies near the military base in Khankala on 13 March 2001 and the opening of an investigation by the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102, criminal case no. 45031 had been transferred to the military prosecutor, since the cases were interrelated. It added that the request for information had been forwarded to the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102, which would reply on the substance of the case.
45.  On 25 July 2003 the military prosecutor of military unit no. 20102 replied to the SRJI that his office was investigating the kidnapping of Mr Akhmadov. However, the investigation had been suspended owing to an inability to identify the culprits. The letter stated that “the servicemen of the Federal Security Service and of the Ministry of the Interior of Chechnya were continuing to take investigative measures to find those responsible for the said crime, so that they could be taken into custody and prosecuted by the military prosecutor's office”.
46.  In their observations, the Government did not dispute the information concerning the investigation into the abduction and killing of Shamil Akhmadov as presented by the applicants. Relying on information obtained from the General Prosecutor's Office, they referred to a number of other procedural steps taken by the investigation which were not mentioned by the applicants. However, despite specific requests from the Court and two reminders, the Government did not submit copies of the documents to which they referred (see below).
47.  According to the information submitted by the Government, in November 2005 the investigation was adjourned on 23 July 2002 owing to a failure to identify the culprits. On 17 March 2004 the investigation was resumed and transferred to the military prosecutor of the United Group Alliance in the Northern Caucasus (UGA), where it was assigned file no. 34/00/0010-04D.
48.  The Government also submitted to the Court a decision dated 10 May 2004 to open a new criminal investigation file no. 34/00/016-04 against persons unknown for the kidnapping of Mr Akhmadov. This file had become separated from the investigation file no. no. 34/00/0010-04. The order of the military prosecutor of the UGA summarised the information and documents from criminal investigation file no. 34/00/0010-04 in the following manner:
“On 12 March 2001 in Argun, Chechnya, unknown persons detained Mr. Shamil Said-Khasanovich Akhmadov, born on 15 December 1975. On 23 March 2001 investigator I. of the Argun District Prosecutor's Office opened criminal investigation file no. 45031 under Article 126 part 2 (a), (g) of the Criminal Code.
On 16 May 2001 the criminal investigation file was forwarded to the military prosecutor's office of military unit no. 20102, where it was accepted for further investigation and combined with criminal investigation file no. 14/33/0132-01 D. This investigation was subsequently transferred to the military prosecutor of the UGA and assigned case file number no.  34/00/0010-04 D.
The investigation established that on 1 May 2002 local residents discovered skeletal human remains on the southern outskirts of Argun. From the remaining items of clothing he was identified by A. and [the second applicant] as their relative Akhmadov Sh. and buried without a forensic report. A., [the second applicant], D. and Kh., and [the first applicant], who had been granted victim status in the proceedings, were questioned about the circumstances of the case and confirmed the above stated events.
In addition, [the first applicant] stated that the body bore injuries to the upper part of the skull and the ribs resembling bullet wounds. However, it is impossible to verify the fact of Akhmadov's death in view of the relatives' absolute refusal to exhume the body.
Taking into account the above established circumstances of detention of Akhmadov and the finding of a male body on the outskirts of Argun, identified by relatives as Akhmadov, the conclusion is that these events are not linked to the events that are the subject of inquiry in file no. 34/00/0010-04 D. A new criminal investigation should be carried out, with copies of the documents from the initial investigation.”
49.  The document further listed, without indicating the dates, several orders of the prosecutors to open, transfer, adjourn and resume the investigation. It also listed two records of questioning of the first and second applicants, three records of questioning of A. (Akhmadov's grandmother), three records of questioning of D. and Kh. (neighbours), and a report on the examination of the site dated 29 March 2004. The document then listed a number of requests for information that had been sent to various departments of the Ministry of the Interior and their replies, without specifying the subject matter of these documents. The order concluded that the new investigation was to be carried out under Article 126 of the Criminal Code (kidnapping) by the military prosecutor of the UGA.
50.  In their observations the Government further stated that a forensic report on the person who had been buried as Shamil Akhmadov listed severe trauma to the head and the fracture of skull bones, which could have resulted from heavy blows or from bullet wounds. They also referred to the relatives' refusal to exhume the body, which had made it impossible to conclude with certainty whether Shamil Akhmadov had indeed died and of what cause.
51.  On 2 June 2004 the military prosecutor forwarded the case file to the Chechnya Prosecutor's Office for further investigation, because the involvement of military personnel in Mr Akhmadov's abduction could not be established. On 18 June 2004 the file was returned to the military prosecutors.
52.  On 9 August 2004 the investigators collected documents relating to the participation of interior troops in the special operation in Argun on 10 – 14 March 2001 from the central archives of the Ministry of the Interior. These documents were reviewed by the investigators on 18 October 2004.
53.  On 18 November 2004 the military prosecutor of the UGA issued an order to close the investigation in respect of servicemen from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior under Article 24 part one (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), owing to the absence of a corpus delicti in their actions. On the same day the investigation was again forwarded to the Chechnya Prosecutor's Office, which accepted it for further investigation in December 2004. It was assigned file no. 61802.
54.  According to information supplied by the Government, the investigation was adjourned and reopened at least six times. On five occasions the case file was transferred between various military and civil prosecutors. In November 2005 the investigation into Mr Akhmadov's kidnapping was still pending at the Chechnya Prosecutor's Office.
55.  The applicants submitted that after Akhmadov's apprehension they were subjected to constant pressure and harassment by the military, who regularly arrived with APCs, and proceeded to surround and enter the house. According to the applicants, 10-12 servicemen dressed in camouflage, armed with automatic weapons and guns, sometimes wearing balaclava masks and bullet-proof vests would enter the house. During these raids they would break or take away the applicants' property, burn furniture, and search the house and garden in an apparent attempt to find weapons. They also threatened the applicants and their children, said that Shamil Akhmadov was probably “fighting in the mountains” and at some point in March 2002 took away the documents file and the diary with the list of letters to various authorities concerning the disappearance kept by the first applicant.
56.  The applicants also submitted that they were subjected to physical assaults. At some point in the summer of 2001 soldiers dropped the second applicant's youngest son, Fattakh, on the floor causing him to break a tooth. On the same day they pushed her daughter Layusa down the stairs and she broke a wrist.
57.  They submitted that in December 2002 the second applicant was beaten so badly by the soldiers that she had to go to hospital and have six stitches in her head.
58.  At some point the applicants moved to Ingushetia, to an IDP camp in Nazran. In late August 2003 the second applicant travelled to Argun to visit her relatives. She first visited her husband's paternal grandfather, and then her husband's maternal grandmother where she spent the night. Upon returning the next day to her husband's paternal grandmother, she saw that the windows and doors of the house had been broken. The grandmother told her that dozens of servicemen had broken into the house the night before, looking for her and asking: “Where is Larisa? Why are you writing these letters? What are you looking for?” The applicants understood the reference to the letters to mean the letters that had been written on their behalf by the SRJI to the prosecutors, asking for information about the investigation.
59.  The second applicant returned to Argun on around 20 October 2003. After leaving Argun she went to another village to attend the burial of a relative before returning to Argun a few days later. On her way back she was told by neighbours that the house of her husband's paternal grandmother had again been stormed by soldiers who were looking for her.
60.  The applicants submitted that they feared to return to Argun even for a short time. They did not submit any documents in support of this part of the complaint.
61.  In their submissions, the Government informed the Court that following the communication of the complaint a prosecutor had checked this information. On 2 April 2004 the second applicant had been questioned about the circumstances of the attacks and confirmed her allegations. However her statements were not supported by any other evidence. The local hospital did not have records of the second applicant's visits in December 2002. Her neighbours and Shamil Akhmadov's grandmother were questioned in March and April 2004 but did not confirm the information about the ill-treatment of the applicant or her children or the destruction of their property. The Government concluded that the second applicant's allegations of violence against her would be further investigated.
62.  Despite specific requests from the Court (see below), the Government did not submit copies of any of the documents to which they referred in this respect. It is unclear whether the prosecutor's inquiries resulted in any procedural decision, but the Government referred to an order by the deputy Prosecutor of Chechnya on 23 November 2005, by which time the investigation had been resumed.
63.  In December 2003 the case was communicated to the Russian Government, who were requested to submit a copy of the investigation file opened in relation to the abduction of Shamil Akhmadov. In May 2004 the Government responded that they could not provide copies of the file because the case was still under investigation. They also stated that its submission would violate Article 161 of the CCP. The Court repeated its request in June 2004, but the Government again replied that the investigation was in progress and that no copies of documents could be submitted.
64.  On 13 October 2005 the application was declared admissible. At the same time the Court again repeated its request to the Government to submit documents from the investigation files that had been opened in relation to Shamil Akhmadov's abduction, as well as documents relating to the verification by the prosecutor of the second applicant's allegations of harassment. The Government were also requested to present an outline of the investigations, including the timing of the major procedural steps and the bodies responsible.
65.  In November 2005 the Government submitted nine documents from the criminal investigation file concerning Mr Akhamdov's abduction, mostly consisting of procedural decisions to open and to transfer the file and letters informing the first applicant of the procedural steps. The Government also presented an outline of the investigation (see paragraphs 47-54 above). They stated that the submission of further documents concerning Akhmadov's abduction was impossible because they contained State secrets. Their disclosure would also violate Article 161 of the CCP because they contained information relating to the location and the actions of the military and special forces, as well as the addresses and personal data of witnesses who had participated in counter-terrorist operations in Chechnya and of other participants in the proceedings.
66.  The Government did not submit any documents relating to the investigation of the second applicant's complaints of harassment.